the Sentry reborn #4

TS R | #4 

The Truth:

Oh My God! Get Back! Get Back!

They're Still Inside!

Officer, My Wife Is In There! What's Going On?

Sir...You Need To Get Back An' Get Down! We Got A Major Situation Right Now.

Get Out Of There! Move!

It's Terrorists! They Blew Up The Ferris Wheel!

No Freakin' Way! It Was The Sentry. He An' Some Nutcase Were Goin' At It Inside- Saw It!

Please...Let Me By...I've Got To Get In There!

What Are You, Nuts? It's A War Zone In There!

"The Sentry's Getting The Snot Beaten Out Of Him. The Sentry Don't Get Beat By No One! Not Ever!"

N-no...You Don't Understand! It's Important. I Need To Get Inside-

Who The Hell Is That Lunatic?

My Name Is Doctor Cornelius Worth.

For Some Years Now I Have Been The Sole Psychiatric Therapist For A Very Remarkable Patient Named Robert Reynolds.

I Am Required By My Conscience, By The Code Of My Profession, And By My Country To Regulate The Sanity Of The Most Dangerous Man On Earth.

Otherwise Known As The Sentry. Otherwise Known As The Void.

It Has Been My Great Burden In Life To Know That I Am The Last Line Of Defense Against Possibly The Most Profoundly Dangerous Case Of Mental Illness The World Has Seen.

What I Have Learned This Week May Signify The End Of Life On Earth As We Know It.

You Seem A Little Upset, Robert. It's Júst An Observation, Of Course. Are You Confused About Something Today--?

He Should Not Have Been There?

Been There? Who?

The Void. He Shouldn't Have Been In The Negative Zone. He Can't Have Been...

"We Were Supposed To Be Safe--the Void Was Supposed To Be Locked In The Lower Vault. He Is Locked In The Lower Vault.

"I Would Never Have Let The Hulk Go With Me There If I'd Known."

He's Sleeping In Our Kitchen- Says He Feels Safe There. Can You Imagine, Doctor: Five Tons Of Unreasonable Brute Asleep On Your Linoleum?

The Void Snapped Every Single Bone In His Body. Every Single Bone! I Know Just How The Poor Beast Feels.

How?

Damaged... Betrayed. Broken.

Robert, I've Never Asked You This Before Because Until Now We've Been Dealing With Your Primary Diagnosis. Tell Me: What Part Of You Does The Void Represent?

What Difference Does It Make? He's Up To Something... I Know It.

Even Though He's Safely Locked Up Downstairs, He Was Able To Manifest In The Negative Zone Somehow. I Need To Know How He Did It.

Let's Not Get Sidetracked, Please. Again, I'd Like You To Tell Me What Part Of You The Void Represents, In Your Opinion?

I Can't Imagine The Pressure You're Under, Doctor, Trying To Keep Me Sane Before I Go Off Like So Many Nuclear Bombs. Like A Million Exploding Suns.

You're Not Insane, Robert. You Suffer From An Illness, It's True-

It Must Tear At Your Stomach Like A Barbed-wire Sandwich. Having The Fate Of The World Resting On Your Ability To Cope With Your Job.

I Can Imagine. I Feel Sorry For You.

This Is Noti About Me, Robert. Please Don't Be So Evasive-

The Fate Of Humanity Hinges Upon An Unhinged Mind. And You're The Guy With Oil And The The Screwdriver.

"Do You Ever Think About That, Doctor Worth?"

Hello, Miriam. Long Day. Where's Katie?

Upstairs.

You Didn't Call So I Didn't Make Dinner. I Assumed You Ate Already.

Jesus Loves You, Cornelius.

I Said. "Jesus Loves

Yes, I Heard You Thank You.

Hiya, Little Bean. Did You Have A Good Day? See Anything Out There?

You Look Pretty.

Mommy Isn't Feeling Well. She's Worried About Daddy. Plus, You're Going To Be Seventeen This Week. She's Nervous About That, I Think.

"I Saw Robert Today. He Said To Give You A Big Kiss.

"He Says He'll Be Looking Out Extra Special For You This Week, Bean."

He Says He'll Keep A Special Eye On Us. I Hope That Means I'm Getting Through To Him.

He Says He Wants To Help Himself, And Then He Avoids Every Question. But I Don't Know If All Those Secrets He Keeps Are Designed To Protect Us Or If They're Going To Kill Us All.

To The Ends Of The Earth, Little Bean. I Promise.

Today

Officer...I Need To Get Inside!

Please... You've Got To Help Me...

Buddy, Either You're A Nut-job, Or Suicidal, Or You Just Don't Get It: You Need To Get As Far Away From Here As Possible And Hope The City's Still Standing In The Morning.

This Is The Sentry: You Don't Walk In On Something Like This. You Go Home An' Lay Under The Blankets And Pray For Morning.

Please... You've Got To Let Me In. It's A Matter Of Life And Death.

I Have, Uh... I Have Someone Inside. Look...You Can Take Whatever I've Got With Me. Please...Just Let Me In.

I Don't Have Time To Argue, Pal. I Sure As Heck Won't Shoot You Or Nothin' To Stop You.

I Mean, If You Go Back In There Now, You're As Good As Dead. Sir--?

Six Days Ago:

No...Not Like That. Like This...See?

There. How's That?

Much Better. Do You Help All Your Clients This Much, Señor?

Only The Beautiful Ones, Señora.

Robert! Oh. You Startled Me I Was Doing Yoga.

This Is Ramón...My Yoga Guy. He, Uh...He Came In Early Today 'cause He Can't Make It On Friday.

I've Heard A Lot About You.

All Good, I Hope.

My Wife Enjoys Your Visits, She Talks About You A Lot, Raymond-

Ramón

Ramón. I Trust You're Taking Care Of Her?

Always, Senor. Lindy Is A Very Good Student...Very Flexible

My, Uh...My Hand...

Either Of You Boys Want Lemonade?

I Thought You'd Be Home An Hour Ago. There's A Man Waiting For You Upstairs.

What? Who?

He Didn't Say His Name. I Though Was From Work.

He's Upstairs With Katie-

Katie!

Evening, Doctor Worth.

Me An' Katie Been Havin' A Tea Party. She's A Precious Kid.

I Don't Know You. Are You-

I Represent Certain Business Interests, Doc. Or Do You Mind If I Call You Cornelius?

I Been Carefully Watchin' Your Visits To Reynolds. You Do Good Work.

In Fact, You've Come To Our Attention As A Possible Weak Link In The Chain, So To Speak. We're All Very Concerned About The Way Things Are Going.

It Wouldn't Do To See That Void Guy Rear His Ugly, Black Head In New York Again. Not Now That Business Has Been So Brisk.

What Branch Of The Government Did You Say You're With? You Shouldn't Know About The Void-

Me An' The Void Have Run Into Each Other A Couple Of Times. People Call Me Hammerhead. But Not You. You Can Call Me Sir.

Now, To Business: I Want You To Ask Reynolds About The Void. Specifically, I Wanna Be Certain This Thing Don't Pose No Threat To My Holdings In The City.

I Can't Just Tell A Man Like Robert Reynolds To Open Up About Such A Deep Seated Problem. I Do It With Gentle Coaxing, Not A Cattle Prod And A Sheet Of Questions.

Any Sudden Change In The Direction Of Our Sessions Could Have Catastrophic Results. I'm Not Sure You Understand-

No Doctor.

You Are The One Who Doesn't Understan.

Don't Think Of This As A Threat, Doctor. I Want To Help You. Think Of This As An Opportunity. Wouldn't You Like To See Katie Get The Care She Deserves? 

You Applied For A Line Of Credit Last Week To Purchase A New Magnetic Mattress To Help Align Her Spine, And You Were Turned Down. That Could Change.

And Miriam, Of Course, Is Not A Well Woman. We'd Hate To See Something Happen To Her.

No...It's Better This Way. Forget Your Doctor/Patient Privilege For The Time Being. It Really Shouldn't Get In The Way Of This Arrangement.

You're Making A Mistake, Mister Hammerhead. He Would Never Allow It.

Don't Think For A Second He Doesn't Know You're Here-

I Want To Tell You A Secret, Doctor: I Am The Only Person Ever To Bring The Sentry To His Knees, Begging For His Life. Not Even The Void Can Claim That.

Me...A Mere Human Being With Nothin' But The Power Of Persuasion. So If You Think I'm Scared Of That Hyper-powered Freak, Think Again.

Ask Him About The Void, Doctor. You Can Email Me A Report Into Our Website.

Keep That Freak-show Reynolds On The Straight And Narrow And Make Sure That Creature Stays Where It Belongs.

"Or Everybody's Dead."

Today 

Five Days Ago

Robert, I Want To Revisit The Question Or The Void-

You Seem Nervous, Doctor. Is Something Wrong?

Why Don't You Tell Me?

Nothing's Wrong. I Checked On Him. He's In The Lower Vault Where He's Supposed To Be. He Can't Get Out.

But You Said He Did Get Out. Why?

How Could The Void Be In Two Places At The Same Time? Did You Take Him Into This "Negative Zone" Intentionally?

It's Not Like That. I Have No Control Over That.

That's Not What You Said Ten Seconds Ago.

So Tell Me, Robert: What About The Void? When Did You First Learn He Existed?

The Moment I Became The Sentry.

That Was In College, Wasn't It? What Was The Name Of Your Professor?

Robert?

Obby Discovers The Professor's Secret Formula!

Gosh -- This Must Be The Professor's Secret Formula!

I'm Sorry, Doctor. I Have To Go. Cloc Is Informing Me Of A Situation Kurdistan.

We'll Do This Again At Our Usual Time.

Wait-

I'm Sorry, Doctor--duty Calls.

Doctor Worth: A Question

Cloc? What Are You Doing In Here?

I Have A Question. Doctor. Please Feel Free To Ask Me About It. Please Ask.

I Understand Your Evaluation Techniques Are Similar To My Own. I Myself Am Programmed To Respond To Many Situational And Emotional Variables, As You Are.

Your Techniques Are Designed To Repair Inconsistencies In The Human Response Mechanism. Is That Correctp

Well... That's One Way Of Putting It, I Suppose.

Will Your Techniques Work On Me? 

I Don't Understand... Are You Asking For A Therapy Session?

Ask Me About Directive 237/Sv-1. Please Ask. Thank You

What's Directive 237/Sv-1?

I'm Not Permitted To Answer That Question.

But You Just Told Me To Ask About It. Are You Trying To Tell Me Something, Cloc?

That Information Is...-bzzt...Classified... -bzzt-...Rerouting... Please Ask Me...

Ask Me...Do Not Ask...-bzzt...Section Azxsd #0%%..Plus Or

"Look After Yourself, Cloc." No Such Sub Routine Can Be Confirmed...

Cloc, What's Wrong? What Are You Trying To Say?

I Am Not Permitted.. Bzzt...

Not Permitted By Whom? The Sentry?

Please Follow Thank You

This Is Turbovator "G." Doctor Worth. It Leads To The Lower Vault Within The Sub-basement. Do Yol Understand The Significance Of The Lower Vaultp

Of Course. The Void Is Down There.

Please Follow.

What? No...I Can't Go Down There. Have You Checked Your Programming, Cloc? Are You Malfunctioning?

In The Event You Are Now Speaking To Me. Sir. My Sincerest Apologies: I Have Turned Off My Aural Receptors For This Turbovator Unit.

I Speculate You Do Not Wish To Proceed To The Lower Vault. That Is Acceptable.

But You Want Me To Go There. You're Fighting Your Own Programming-

Sir. In The Event You Do Not Wish To Proceed I Am Required To Turn On My Aural Receptors And Follow Your Instructions.

But If You Are Willing To Proceed. I Will Accept Your Entrance Into The Turbovator As Tacit Approval To Descend Into The Lower Vault. Please Do Not Ask Me...-bzzt-... Ask Me.

Thank You For Understanding. Doctor Worth.

Cloc, I'm Not Going To Ask You Directly About The Void, But I Need To Know One Thing: Why Are You Doing This? Are You Broken?

I Am Unable To Answer That Question Fully, Sir- My Programmed Responses Have Been Temporarily Quarantined.

You Have A Virus?

I Have Looped My Own Response Mechanisms. Doctor. I Am Programmed To Fully Comply With The Orders Of The Sentry. Without Question.

I Am Also Programmed To Calculate The Probability Of Risks To The Population Of This Planet And Report Those Parameters To The Sentry.

The Preservation Of Human Life Is My Primary Objective. I Believe My Current Actions To Be In Accordance With My Programming.

Please... -bzzt...Thank You.

Cloc, I Think I Understand, God Help Me... Open The Vault Door.

I Want You To Show Me The Void.

Ohh Lord...

He Is The Danger.